Ramapo yeshiva loses state reps' support

Congregation had illegally converted one-family home

10:00 PM,
Oct. 30, 2013

Children watch as firefighters work at the scene of a fire in a house adjacent to a yeshiva on Highview Rd. in Monsey Oct. 23, 2013. The fire was confined to the second floor of the house belonging to the caretaker of the yeshiva. A 12-year old girl was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation. No other injuries were reported. ( Seth Harrison / The Journal News )

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Two state legislators from Rockland said Wednesday they will urge the governor to reject their bill offering a retroactive tax exemption to a congregation that illegally converted a single-family house into a school on Highview Road.

Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee, D-Suffern, and state Sen. David Carlucci, D-New City, said they backed off support for the 2011 exemption for the Talmud Torah Ohr Yochanan because it had zoning violations and no certificate of occupancy. Jaffee also said there were other issues. The students are being taught in the four-bedroom house, including on the second ...